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Mitch Helwig #1
Barking Dogs
On the streets of Toronto in 1999, tough cop Mitch Helwig abandons the rules after gangsters kill his partner, trades in his standard gun for an illegal laser pistol, dons the "barking dog" lie-detector device and wages a one-man war on the mob
214 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
3 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Terence M. Green
25 books9 followersGreen received a BA in English in 1967 from the University of Toronto, an MA from University College, Dublin, and a BEd in 1973 from the University of Toronto. He is the author of 8 books (7 novels and a short story collection) and is a 2-time World Fantasy Award finalist and a 5-time Prix Aurora Award finalist. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Danish, Polish and Portuguese.
Green is a lecturer of Creative Writing at The University of Western Ontario. He is married to Merle Casci and is the father of three sons.
Green is a lecturer of Creative Writing at The University of Western Ontario. He is married to Merle Casci and is the father of three sons.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 10, 2024
Disappointing. Not really science fiction (despite the laser pistols and portable lie detection scanners). More a rogue cop/vigilante novel set in near-future Toronto of 1999 (this book came out in 1988). 2 stars.
October 10, 2024
Mitch Helwig is a Toronto cop trying to cope with the death of his partner Mario in a botched hold-up. Mitch and his wife have gradually grown a bit apart due to their respective jobs and Mitch’s closing up after the death of his friend. Thinking to even the score a bit with the crime in the city Mitch takes $10000 from his and his wife’s joint account and purchases a Barking Dog - a state-of-the-art facial and body signal interpreter - that guarantees truth from questions. Adding further to the bill he purchases body armour which is also resistant to the new weapons like lasers. When his wife notices the missing money she doesn’t confront Mitch about it but starts to nurse the notion that he has another woman. Meanwhile Mitch starts his vigilante life by tracking down the killer of a bar patron walking home. In his questioning he discovers that two others have committed murder and exacts a high penalty. His senior at the station puts a few things together and realizes that Mitch is probably the vigilante but signs off by ignoring it. Eventually he discovers the Big Man in the city who was responsible for the drug, prostitution, snuff and gun trade in the city. But the Big Man is not unaware of Mitch and has made plans of his own. Gritty future cop tale from Terence M. Green. Have a read!
February 7, 2023
On the whole I liked it, although I never fully got used to the author's style, and it definitely shows it's age in some places, especially in regards to how women are portrayed.
It's weird to me how the rich and influential criminal organization had all the fancy weapons but not the armor which the protagonist was easily able to get...
It's weird to me how the rich and influential criminal organization had all the fancy weapons but not the armor which the protagonist was easily able to get...
December 21, 2017
A fun read and a page turner. One of my favourite books by Terry Green. I miss his writing.
May 4, 2012
Barking dog is a science fiction novel by Terence M. Green, written in 1988, portraying a time in 1998. So, even though it was futuristic at the time it was written, its future is pretty old. That said, the book was cool. I wish I had read it in 1988. He talks about baboon heart transplants, hovering cars, and stage one and stage two thinking. (I saw a hover car demo back then, and thinking back on it makes me really wish I read this back then.)
More central to the story than hovering cars and baboon hearts is the barking dog. It isn't a canine. In fact there was no canine in the book at all. The barking dog is a piece of technology. You wear it. The barking dog watches a person's face and monitors it. The barking dog can tell if the person is telling the truth or telling a lie. The author mentions that the technology works by watching involuntary facial tics.
Mitch is a police officer whose partner was recently murdered. He bought barking dog. What Mitch does with his barking dog, and subsequent technological purchases, is the story.
If you like science fiction futures, this is a good read. And, even though the "science fiction" technologies were discussed in 1988, none of them have really come to be. They're still science-fiction. The story is holds up.
My biggest problem with the book is that all the characters seem to think the same. Instead of a little girl thinking little girl, with little girl words and little girl ideas, her inner dialogue comes across very similar to Mitch's. And Mitch's wife comes across similar to Mitch.
Also very important: This publisher doesn't have DRM on their e-books. Yeah! You can read it on your Kindle, Sony, or toaster.
More central to the story than hovering cars and baboon hearts is the barking dog. It isn't a canine. In fact there was no canine in the book at all. The barking dog is a piece of technology. You wear it. The barking dog watches a person's face and monitors it. The barking dog can tell if the person is telling the truth or telling a lie. The author mentions that the technology works by watching involuntary facial tics.
Mitch is a police officer whose partner was recently murdered. He bought barking dog. What Mitch does with his barking dog, and subsequent technological purchases, is the story.
If you like science fiction futures, this is a good read. And, even though the "science fiction" technologies were discussed in 1988, none of them have really come to be. They're still science-fiction. The story is holds up.
My biggest problem with the book is that all the characters seem to think the same. Instead of a little girl thinking little girl, with little girl words and little girl ideas, her inner dialogue comes across very similar to Mitch's. And Mitch's wife comes across similar to Mitch.
Also very important: This publisher doesn't have DRM on their e-books. Yeah! You can read it on your Kindle, Sony, or toaster.
May 15, 2012
While the sci-fi and police-procedural elements of this novel were intriguing - the tech was relatively believable and the integration of the Barking Dog was interesting, although I wonder about the societal impact of such a device - too much of the book was simply disjointed, or a screed on police ineffectiveness. The entire novel was, really, a set-piece to discuss how police departments are being hamstrung by politics, and how technology is advancing to the point where cops can't keep pace with crooks.
It's a good point, and something that could've been spun into a truly fascinating tale. But instead, when Mitch was talking about policework, it read like a screed or an infodump; and the rest of the novel was, really, an attempt to tack some humanity onto all of that. The side-tracking into his wife's infidelity (and mental accusations of HIM being unfaithful...) and his daughter's occasional viewpoint were distracting and not terribly well done. The head-hopping got a little tiresome. The lack of resolution on the incident that started Mitch's journey - his partner's murder - was infuriating; it felt like the book was half-done. There was a ton of setup for the climactic take-down and then...no resolution whatsoever.
All in all, unsatisfying. But at least there was interesting, plausible near-future tech.
Conclusion: If you want to read a near-future sci-fi police procedural about how cops are outgunned and outmanned by crooks, and hamstrung by politics, read KOP instead.
It's a good point, and something that could've been spun into a truly fascinating tale. But instead, when Mitch was talking about policework, it read like a screed or an infodump; and the rest of the novel was, really, an attempt to tack some humanity onto all of that. The side-tracking into his wife's infidelity (and mental accusations of HIM being unfaithful...) and his daughter's occasional viewpoint were distracting and not terribly well done. The head-hopping got a little tiresome. The lack of resolution on the incident that started Mitch's journey - his partner's murder - was infuriating; it felt like the book was half-done. There was a ton of setup for the climactic take-down and then...no resolution whatsoever.
All in all, unsatisfying. But at least there was interesting, plausible near-future tech.
Conclusion: If you want to read a near-future sci-fi police procedural about how cops are outgunned and outmanned by crooks, and hamstrung by politics, read KOP instead.
December 21, 2012
Really low quality, poor writing and lack of world. There are some descriptions that really seem to be there for padding so people won't complain about lack of descriptions, while failing to do any kind of build up. It's not the worst I've read, I did finish reading it, but it's just low quality writing.
March 30, 2011
A fun read and easy read, with interesting ideas. Like that author is Canadian. Would have liked the book to be longer and plot more involved.
April 28, 2012
I liked the premise but overall it seemed to be too much on the "preachy" side, not in a religious way.
March 12, 2013
If you want a book about a gritty future cop and laser pistols that reads like a bad 80s movie, then you could do a lot worse than Barking Dogs. Nothing new here, but enjoyable in its own way.
February 21, 2020
ISBN 0-312-01424-4 St. Martin's Press
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews